Discussion of Finance and Wall Street, and Dreaming of Pitchforks.

Tag Archives: wall-street-firms

Rachel Maddow’s optimistic report on the OccupyNevadaCounty (OWSNC) in California — and its action that resulted in the delaying of a family’s eviction due to foreclosure, until at least after the holidays — as I say, that report was maybe a little too optimistic. Wonderful, though.

It involved homeowner Stephen Merryweather, who was about to be evicted from his home the next morning, called the Occupy Nevada County’s foreclosure group, asking for help. The Occupiers arrived very early the next morning (when he was about to be kicked out) and Occupied his front lawn. They also called up the parties involved in the mortgage and the foreclosing action, which meant a Fannie Mae rep from California Pacific Brokers, and the sheriff. They talked, and the mortgage rep agreed to delay the action of putting a family out of its home a week and a half before Christmas.

It is to be wondered if such a scenario could take place in many other locations. This would require a lot of separate elements: An experienced, able local Occupy group to respond and negotiate with several different local authorities, for a start. The Occupy Nevada County members were noticeably older people, middle-aged, not 20-somethings. This was rather remarkable, since the media pictures of all other Occupy groups tend to portray very young people. But older people are more representative of homeowners in general. The entire event screams to the sky how much older people are needed in the Occupy movement.

The next thing you’d need to repeat the success is a local sheriff who’s willing to help the two other parties negotiate, and who is willing to hold off his dogs.

And then the mortgage people. If they’d been Bank of America or Wells Fargo, what might have been likely to happen? These big bad ones have not seemed concerned about their public images lately, but are extremely concerned about keeping their f’n money. (Even though it isn’t really theirs.)

Occupy Wall Street at UC Davis featured those shield-helmeted guys in black that the media are comparing to Storm Troopers, SWAT teams, and other scary forces. I think they look like the firemen of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, only they are burning people (with pepper spray) instead of books. You know, no ideas allowed. They are equally relentless and unfeeling.

Our political saga now has incorporated yet another science fiction/horror story into real life. We’ve been in Orwell territory for quite a while, not just 1984 but Animal Farm because our rich are more equal than us, for one thing; we’ve waded through the scum of Minority Report with Obama’s “preventive detention” of Gitmo detainees, who after their sentences are served, cannot go free because he says they might commit more crimes in the future. What else, what other horror stories? I’m afraid they’re too easy to find.

Which should I be more enraged about — the lack of effect of the OccupyWallStreet movement, or the ever-imminent shutdown of the federal government?

Ted Rall was pretty hard on the mostly-young people taking part in the nonviolent occupation of Wall Street, which is winding down now in the park nearby, having been forced off the main street by violence from the police. Ted’s point was good, though: Why announce you’re going to be nonviolent, when the police routinely taser nonviolent protestors now? Let the police keep their distance a little longer, for fear of a riot beginning. As it was, the NYPD knew they could come in easily with plastic ziplocks for handcuffs, tasers, a minimum of effort, and pepper spray all these people who were not going to do anything about it. The protestors were dead in the water.

Why is it that each succcessive item used in crowd control becomes more harmful? Tasers are used everyday instead of oh, bothering to use one’s hands, and tasers cause a lot of pain, and occasionally heart stoppage; plastic ziplocks are much tighter than any handcuff could be, since that’s how they work — having to be completely tight around the person’s wrists, while handcuffs don’t have to — so ziplocks can cut off circulation, can bruise and cause nerve damage.

In former years, when protestors went limp and nonresistant, it meant the officers had to lift and carry people. Now it means they’ll use electricity on you until you get up on your own damn feet. Also, your hands will go numb. It’s possible they’ll hit you with their fists (as we see in the videos from the OccupyWallStreet group) if you can’t get up on your own. Even if they don’t hit you, you’ll very likely feel the taser a few more times.

This is as bad, or worse, than the early 60s. The taser has simply replaced the billyclub.

It’s maddening when you realize the police are really the foot-soldiers of the big banks and hedge fund companies. That’s who they effectively protect. It is now in the public interest to have fewer police on the street.

We’ll Meet You On The Edge

And now the federal government is about to shut down, again. But the battle is changed. It is now clear that each time the Republican Party does this, we should be insisting on a proper and complete bill, not some “bipartisan” thing, or a bill that’s entirely in the right-wing, billionaire big-bankers’ favor. Let us become brinksmen too. Let the government shut down, this time and every time after this, so we can actually fight for proper funding of jobs, health care, Social Security, and the stuff we need the government to be taking care of.

As Wall Street firms toss bonuses to their employees, so does the NFL in similar fashion award enormous signing bonuses and contracts to big talent players. Just the other day, the NFL announced they’d be giving Michael Vick a $100 million contract to stay on as Eagles QB.

A day before this was announced, there came a different sort of event: The AFL-CIO had just welcomed the NFL Players’ Association (NFLPA) into its loving embrace. The NFL players’ union has joined the AFL-CIO. Why now, one might well ask.

In what way do the interests of a group of seasonal workers — many of whom are multimillionaires — dovetail with the interests of the regular workers who make up the rest of the union? It’s a reasonable question.
We do understand that the players union includes not only the millionaire brats and the quarterback divas, it also includes those earning far, far less; and it is a large group of people for whom permanent disability is a significant risk.

But today the NFL just announced it has agreed to pay Michael Vick $100 million. Why does he need union representation — and why is he in one at all, when his employment situation is so many light years away from that of the rank-and-file worker?

Consider what it means. The largest union in America has just annexed a whole bunch of rich people. Those rich people, the star players, make their big money from labor negotiations. Some rich people actually will have to care about how labor gets treated!

Furthermore, Rachel Maddow made clear on her show a week or so ago how Labor and the Democratic Party rise together — when they rise, that is. Historically, the growth of Democratic power was because Labor supported it wholeheartedly; and Labor did well when the Democratic Party was able to carry out its platforms.

So now there’s some important movement occurring. Does this have something to do with superPACs? Are the football players going to help save labor? If so, this may be a really good deal for us. The position of the middle class working person is precarious in every way, and he needs the help of somebody strong. Not necessarily physically strong, but why not?

The strength of NFL players could be symbolic. Think about it.

If some big NFL players were to show up to support another workers’ group demonstration or strike, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have the cameras see on our side. Picture it: Tired, striking health care workers (for example), standing in the rain with their picket signs, shuffling back and forth in front of the hospital entrance, … and suddenly a column of enormous athletes in jerseys marches up and they arrange themselves behind the strikers, and stand there with their enormous arms folded across their chests… just like in Revenge of the Nerds, when the older (and athletic, and black) Tri-Lambs show up to support their scrawny nerd brothers! What a day that would be!

When the 2012 presidential campaign begins in earnest, will our big strong brothers (Brothers in Labor!) be around to show support for the working man, giving a much-needed boost to the party trying to fight the Big Banks, the Wall Street firms, the Phil Gramms, the Koch brothers, and all the super-rich who hate ordinary people?